A Good Son
by archard-winchester
Summary: Dean Winchester saved Ben's life once. NOw Ben wants to return the favor. Crossover


**Disclaimer:**Don't own it, never did, never will

**Summary:**Ben never knew his father. And he'll do anything to see him again.

**A/N:** Ist fanfic. Be kind.

**A Good Son**

"_You're 100 sure that he's not mine right." _

Ben was her miracle child. Three weeks after her weekend with Dean she'd found out that she was pregnant and four weeks after that she was going to lose the baby. The doctors had explained to her in detail how the fetus was not viable, but she'd not heard a word after "I'm sorry Miss Braeden." They told her that for the child to be born healthy and whole she'd need a miracle. She prayed for one. She offered her soul in exchange for her son's life. She got her miracle a month after that in form of her father, who was a scientist in a government facility. As it turned out, it wasn't her soul that she sold, it was Ben's.

"_I did a blood test. You're off the hook."_

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_Sam regretted agreeing to wait around with Ben while Dean dropped off other kids. The kid was full of questions. And the thought that Sam was full of answers._

"_What were those things back there?"_

"_They were monsters. Something you should stay away from in future."_

"_Why didn't my mom come looking for me?"_

"_Well these big monsters left a little one at your home that looked just like you. So your mom didn't know that you were gone." _

"_I thought these things were supposed to look horrible. Different from us."_

"_That's not always true. Sometimes they can look just like any other person. Sometimes you can't even tell the difference till its too late."_

"_What if they come back? What if there are others like them?"_

"_Well, they won't come back because we killed them. And as for others, you just have to believe that someone is watching over you. Keeping you safe. That someone sent us here to save you."_

"_How do I know that?"_

"_Sometimes you just gotta have faith."_

"_Do they watch over you too? Keep you safe?"_

_Sam watched the returning Impala, his brother taking the corner too fast as always._

"_Yup, someone watches over me alright."_

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Ben had a lot of questions for her on the trip back to Wyoming.

"Mom, Dean's my dad isn't he?"

"Yes."

"Then why did you lie to him about me?"

"You know why Ben. We couldn't have him staying with us. Not just before you had to go back."

"Why do I have to go back? Why can I see you only once in few years?"

"Honey, I know that it's difficult, but you have to understand. If you don't go back on your own you might end up never seeing me again. This way at least you can see me on some of your birthdays. You know that's more than most of your friends at the facility get."

"But I hate it there. They make us work all day long and put us through all that training. And there are monsters there, like the ones that took me."

"Don't worry honey, they're training you to fight those monsters. And if you're a good boy and do as you're told, monsters won't be able to get you."

Lisa drew to a stop in front of a military compound, her eyes skimming over ranks of children marching inside the secluded area, as she handed over her pass to the guard. The guard looked over at Ben before reaching for his microphone.

"Sir, Lisa Braeden has brought back X5-493."

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"_Tell us a story, Ben."_

"_You know not all 'nomalies look different from us. Sometimes they can look just like us. There are anomalies out there who climb up through your window, snatch you while you're sleeping and drag you down to the basement. And in your place they leave a spy. An anomaly who looks just like you, who keeps an eye on the rest and tells others which one to take next. They keep doing it until the whole unit has been replaced by anomalies."_

_Scared eyes looked at each-other with doubt. _

"_What happens to those who are dragged in?"_

"_The anomalies in the basement feed in them. Only while they're feeding you can see their true form. They have rows of sharp teeth which latch over your barcode and suck your blood."_

"_That's enough, Ben" Zack said, watching the doubt creeping-in in his unit, "There maybe anomalies in the basement, but they don't take you and they don't suck your blood." _

"_Yes, they do. They can even go outside through their tunnels. They took me when I was away with my mom." _

"_You are just making that up."_

_Instead of answering to that Ben turned around and bared his barcode to the room. He heard the collective gasp from others as they saw the faint red teeth-marks circling the barcode. Yup, he had definitely won that one._

"_How do we know they won't get us?"_

"_You don't. But sometimes you just gotta have faith."_

_There was silence in the room as his audience mulled it over. Then Max asked, ever curious,_

"_How did you get away from them?"_

"_My dad saved me."_

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Two years later when they escaped from Manticore, Ben knew that he could not go back to his mother. Ever. He knew that Colonel Lydecker would have her under a telescope. Besides if anyone could keep him safe it was his father.

Lisa had told him about his birth. How in the early stages of his development, her father had separated the weak DNA strands and replaced them with his own super-baby formula. Ben had heard more than what was said. He knew that he was supposed to be born an anomaly. That he might still turn into one. That's why the anomalies wanted him so bad. And he knew Dean Winchester was the only one who could save him from that.

Finding Dean would be difficult, he knew that. The man had eluded the FBI and the police forces of a dozen states. He was a master at covering his tracks. But Ben had been trained by the best. And he had inside information- Wherever people are in trouble, Dean will be there. He started looking through papers for any unusual activities, checking out the haunted places, hoping a black Impala would show up one day. Hunters came and went, taking care of the job but none of them had any idea on where he'd find the Winchesters. Later on the pulse made gathering information even more difficult.

He found out about his quarry quite by luck, when he overheard two girls talking about a some guy in a muscle car who'd saved them from a werewolf. He found out about that guy living in a cabin on the edge of the town. He went to the cabin and saw the Impala standing outside and felt his heart soar.

_I found you, Dad._

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Sam had been living his life in a haze ever since he lost his brother. He had tried so hard, done everything humanly possible to save his brother. But Dean didn't want to be saved. Not content with giving up his soul for Sam, Dean had gone further- he'd given up his body. He'd offered a demon his body in exchange for making hell a Sam-free zone. Sam couldn't offer himself for Dean, nor could he follow him. Dean left him no choice but to live. He'd thought once or twice of opening the Devil's Gate again to get his brother out, but knew that wouldn't work. When a person is dragged body and soul into hell, they still have the limitations of being a human in hell. Limited motion, limited tolerance, and limited pain threshold. Better way to torture someone like that, he thought.

Dean might have expected Sam to go back to his normal lifestyle, but Sam knew that wasn't an option. Hunting without Dean didn't seem so lucrative either. Anyway, after the pulse the whole country had gone to dogs. So it didn't matter if you were a lawyer or a hunter. Or a drunk hustler. Any one who saw Sam hunt thought he had a deathwish and those who saw him drink knew that to be true.

Still Sam had his moments of sobriety. Sometimes some things shocked him out of his stupor. Like a new info on summoning souls from hell. Or book on nullifying demon deals. Or a 16- year old claiming to be Dean's son.

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Ben knew a broken man when he saw one. They are always cynical, drink too much and look at you like you're thinking of ways to screw them over. He had never expected to see Sam like that, but the man sitting before him was beyond broken. He almost took a perverse pleasure in telling Ben that his dad was dead. Not just dead, but dead and cooking in hell.

"But I don't get it. You said someone is always watching over us."

"No-one's watching over us kid. We are on our own."

"That's not true. The Blue Lady watches over us. She protects the good soldiers. She keeps us safe."

"Then I guess Dean wasn't good enough."

Hazel eyes flashed with anger. Why was this man destroying the only memory he had of his father. Then he realized what Sam was doing. He was challenging his faith. Trying to break his faith in the Lady, like his own had been broken years ago when he'd lost his brother.

"Can I atleast see him once? Where is he buried?"

"Nowhere. He was taken to hell body and soul."

"Can't we do something, anything to help him?"

Sam briefly met his eyes before looking down in regret.

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Ben knew what he was doing was wrong. He was killing people. Hurting innocents. Well, maybe not that innocent. All those he killed had believed in something. Their faith had been strong, strong enough to make them think they could do whatever they wanted as long as they were within the dictates of their religion. He took some twisted pleasure in matching his beliefs against theirs. But it wasn't just their faith that he was testing. The one being tested was The Blue Lady. How far would she watch over him? What he had to do to make her abandon him like she'd abandoned Dean?

He knew as long as she believed in him he'd never die and as long as he was alive he'd never see his Dean. It was just a matter of time whose belief gave out first.

Ben thought she'd abandoned him the moment Max cornered him on the Space needle. Or maybe she'd finally granted his wish. He had to make sure, so he made Max believe what she already thought- that he was a soulless killer. He even went so far as to almost killing Father Destry. Almost, because one believer on The Lady could never hurt another. He threw the fight with Max, gave her many openings, made her break his leg. Just in time to hear the sound of approaching helicopters. Yes. The Lady was definitely on his side. He knew Max wouldn't be able to save him and she wouldn't throw him to the wolves. She never had a choice.

_Mission Accomplished_ Ben thought as felt his neck snap.

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His first thought on coming to was _She's as beautiful as I thought she'd be_.

After that _No, she's the Blue Lady. Remember what Sam told you. Reapers can make you see whatever they want. _

"Very smart Ben, you found me out. Does this mean you won't be coming with me?"

"Where are we going? Up or down?"

"After all you did son, what do you expect?"

"Just wanted to make sure."

"You know most people decide not to cross-over if they think they're going to hell. You on the other hand…"

"I've got family to visit. Can we get on now?"

He took her hand and started walking towards the orange glow coming from afar.

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"_Can't we do something, anything to help him?"_

"_Yeah, sure. Someone can go down there and bring him out." _

"_Why haven't you done that already?"_

_Sam looked at him disbelievingly._

"_Dude, I'll have to die to go to hell and even then I won't be able to because Dean gave up his body to make sure that never happens." _

"_Well, maybe not you but someone else could go." _

"_I can't ask someone to do that. Once you're dead you're dead. There's no coming back. Besides who'll be crazy enough to die for someone already dead." _

"_Look, I don't know Dean, but I know he doesn't belong in hell. Besides I'm gonna do all I can to see Dad again."_

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Many people thought that hell was full of fire and lava pits and heat. They were wrong. Hell was full of whatever would make you hurt most. It was different of each soul. For Ben it was full of darkness. Thick suffocating black flames which was like drowning in acid. He almost lost himself there. Lost his reason, his purpose. He understood how much more in pain he'd had been if he'd still been in his human form. It was that thought which reminded him of his father who was here in his human form, for whom the torture was much worse than it was for him.

Summoning the last of his will-power, he broke through the darkness and found himself floating in a myriad of souls. Black and white river of demons and ghosts. It was easy to find Dean there. He was the only thing unmoving in there. With Herculean effort he moved towards him and grabbed hold of his arm. Then he let the darkness swallow him once again.

Time had lost all its meaning in hell. Ben couldn't tell the difference if he'd been there a minute or an year. All he was aware of was endless pain. He was drowning and couldn't even scream. He'd almost lost his identity, his sanity. The only thing he was holding on to with was an arm in his grip. He didn't know how much longer he'd be able to hold on and prayed with all he had for deliverance.

After what felt an eternity later, there was sudden commotion among the souls. Then he saw the reason- a point of light far away. He tightened his grip on the arm and started moving towards the light with all he had.

_Come on, dad. I'm getting you outta here._

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Dean knew he was in for an eternity of pain and torture. That's exactly what he'd prepared himself for. Which is why he was a little surprised when the pain and hunger and thirst, all ebbed away leaving him feeling peaceful and well-fed like he was before he died. Actually, exactly as he was just before he died. Slowly opening his eyes he saw Sam (Sam? When did he get that old?) helping up a kid who looked blissful and just like him. _Wait a second, is this an out of body experience. _He looked at his hands, which had none of the smoothness of a 28-year old. _Guess bodies do grow old in hell._

"Sam, what's going on?" the kid-who-looks-like-me beat him to the question. " Why am I alive again?"

_Dammit kid, I'm supposed to be asking that._

"I made a deal with a demon. To bring you back into your body – fully healed – after you crawled out of hell. And if you are wondering I stole your body from the cold storage in that military facility nearby. Lucky, they decide to build Manticore so near the Devil's Gate."

A shiver of panic passed through Dean's body.

"Dammit Sam," Dean said as soon as he found his voice "You made a deal. How long did you…?"

"Relax Dean, I didn't sell my soul. The demon was one of the apocalypse fans, so I gave him opening the Devil's Gate in exchange for your and Ben's lives. I'm still banned from hell."

Dean looked relieved at that and turned his attention to the new guy.

"You are the one that got me out right? You were the one holding my hand?"

"Yeah. I'm Ben by the way."

"Ben… Ben Braeden?"

"Actually, it'd be Ben Winchester now."

_So she lied to me. He is my son. My son got me out of hell through a Devil's Gate. Wait… someone opened the Devil's Gate._

He realized the lengths they had gone to have him back. Going as far as to opening the devil's gate and letting out hundreds of minions of hell in this world. Again. He knew he should be angry at them for that, but right then he could feel nothing but happiness.

"Guys, I appreciate everything you've done for me and all, but you realize that you've just brought on Demon war upon the world again. Especially when the first one ended in the pulse." He looked at their shocked faces, " Yeah, I hear things down there."

"Well then," Ben said, getting up and dusting his jeans, " We got work to do,"

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A mini-Dean called Ben facing monsters. I just couldn't resist.


End file.
